The wreckage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 lies near the San Francisco runway July 7. / NTSB via Getty Images

by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

Federal crash investigators say the Asiana Airlines pilot who saw a bright light before the crash said it didn't affect the plane's approach into San Francisco International Airport.

Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, had said Wednesday that the pilot complained of a bright light that temporarily blinded him. She clarified Thursday that the pilot saw the light while about 500 feet in the air and that it might have been sun reflecting off the bay, but that the pilot wasn't sure.

Hersman said the pilot described turning his head and then looking back and finding that his vision wasn't impaired because he could still see the plane's controls. She said neither of the pilots mentioned the light during interviews and there is no discussion about it on the cockpit-voice recorder.

"The light source was straight in front of the airplane but not on the runway," Hersman said. "He stated that he did not think the light affected his vision."

Two passengers died in the crash when Flight 214 slammed into a seawall Saturday at the end of the runway. The impact ripped off the back of the plane and tossed three flight attendants and their seats onto the runway.

Investigators found the plane was too low and too slow in its approach, but the investigation into whether pilots or equipment are to blame is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

Hersman added details in her final on-scene briefing about the plane's approach from 500 feet above ground, when the plane was going 134 knots. The crew's target was to land at 137 knots, but the plane slowed to 103 knots just before impact.

Hersman said there was no mention of the plane's speed until nine seconds before impact, when it was about 100 feet in the air.

"Almost immediately after that is the first comment about speed," Hersman said.

Then at three seconds before impact and again at 1.5 seconds before, crewmembers call to abort the landing, Hersman said.

The worst of the fire came around the right engine, which leaked oil after the crash, Hersman said. But she said firefighters entering the cabin at the left door just in front of the wings found nearly pristine seats before the fire spread inside and destroyed them. The floor was damaged a bit between the third and fourth doors, and worst behind the fourth door.

After gathering perishable information at the scene, she said, investigators will spend months sifting through data and interviews to determine what happened.